---

News

Aug 21, 2023 by Ellen Patterson

The School of Public Affairs recently had the honor of sitting down with a unique trio of alumni – Elsa Holguín (MPA '11), her husband Ed Lucero (MPA '98), and her daughter Denise Gomez (MPA '16) – a multi-generational example of the impact of SPA’s programs in the greater community.

Jul 19, 2023

Kristin Wegner Guilfoyle works at the intersection of technology, environment, and society. She currently leads networks at the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA), at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Jul 7, 2023

Greg LeBlanc joined the Town of Snowmass Village in March of 2022 after serving for five years with the City of Grand Junction, Colorado. Prior positions include serving Boulder County, Colorado and the City and County of Denver. He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology (Ecology) from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver.

Jun 29, 2023

Tony Frank is the Director of Business Development for PCs for People. He is based in the Denver office where he develops partnerships with businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, affordable housing organizations, schools, and other community groups to ensure PCs for People is maximizing the impact of providing affordable computers and low-cost internet across Colorado. He holds a Master of Public Administration with a Local Government Policy concentration from the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs.

Jun 23, 2023

Melinda Pollack, Managing Director at Blue Meridian Partners, provides strategic and executional leadership on critical business priorities and leads innovation efforts which will expand Blue Meridian’s work as it evolves. She explores new philanthropic investment opportunities, leads due diligence on potential Blue Meridian investees, and manages relationships with current investees, with a focus on Place Matters. Melinda earned a BA at George Washington University and an MPA from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Jun 14, 2023

Carol was raised in a military family - spending formative years moving between England, Arizona, Mississippi, Turkey, New Jersey, Hawaii, and then Missouri - where her family has its roots. Her educational and career path wandered as well, from a degree in Antiquities and New World Archeology that led from “shovel bum” to managing a bookstore, to undergraduate and graduate degrees in English that led to teaching in Montana, a Native American village in Alaska, and international schools in Pakistan and the Czech Republic. The move to Colorado from Prague was a turning point in Carol’s life, followed by walking into a prison classroom as a GED teacher. Twenty-four years later, Carol’s work remains related to that first prison experience. Carol credits her SPA education for providing her with a public policy lens for her work in re-entry and its role in the public safety sphere.